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Chalav Yisrael Today

by Rabbi Avrohom Gordimer

Originaly published by Daf Hakashrus. Reprinted with permission of the Author.

Which is these
statements is correct?

“The Halacha
about chalav Yisrael milk doesn’t apply in America, since the
government makes sure that all milk is kosher.”

“Government
inspections are not done reliably, and one therefore needs to only
drink chalav Yisrael.”

Answer: Neither is
correct. The Halacha of chalav Yisrael applies in all places and
times, but this Halacha might be fulfilled by having government
inspectors rather than rabbis doing the supervision. And government
inspections are indeed very thorough, but according to some poskim,
these inspections are not what the Halacha requires.

The Basics

The Talmud (Avodah
Zarah 35b) states that milk from non-Jews is only kosher when a Jew
supervises the milking. This is a rabbinical decree that safeguards
otherwise kosher milk from the admixture of milk from non-kosher
animal species. This Halacha – that in order to be kosher, milk
requires on-site Jewish supervision, is undisputed and is codified in
the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 115:1).

Although the P’ri
Chadash, a great 17th century posek, ruled that this
Halacha of chalav Yisrael only pertains when there is room for
concern that non-kosher milk is present (P’ri To’ar 115:2), most
poskim rule otherwise, adopting the position of the Chasam Sofer
(Teshuvos Chasam Sofer – Yoreh Deah 107) that the prohibition of
chalav akum – gentile milk – applies regardless of circumstances;
it is a davar she-b’minyan, a Halacha that must always be
fulfilled.

Government
Supervision of Milk

Reb Moshe Feinstein
(Igros Moshe – Yoreh Deah I: 47-49) ruled like the Chasam Sofer,
and Reb Moshe held that government supervision of dairy processors
fulfills the halachic requirements for milk supervision. Even though
the Halacha requires Jewish supervisors for milking, the Talmudic
axiom of Anan Sahadei, which means that one can “virtually”
witness an event without physically witnessing it, comes into play
here, explained Reb Moshe. It is a known fact that the government
supervises all commercial dairy processors, and it is also true that
the supervision provided by the government is adequate, for violation
of dairy regulations will assuredly destroy a company’s business
reputation; this knowledge on the part of every Jew is the equivalent
of every halachic witnessing the milking. The fact that we all know
that the milk is supervised properly without concern makes it as if
we are witnesses to it all, explained Reb Moshe – this “virtual”
halachic witnessing of milking by all Jews makes the milk
Jewish-supervised, as Halacha requires. This is the position of Reb
Moshe.

Other poskim
disagree and maintain that Halacha requires physical, on-site Jewish
supervisors. Even if knowledge is tantamount to virtual witnessing,
Chazal (the Sages of the Talmud) required physical presence of
mashgichim for milking, and government supervisors do not fulfill
this inviolable halachic requirement. This is the position of those
who require chalav Yisrael milk.

How is chalav
Yisrael milk supervised?

There are two types
of chalav Yisrael farms. One is a farm that is in full-time dedicated
chalav Yisrael service. Such a farm has a team of mashgichim who live
on the farm or very adjacent to it, and they supervise every single
milking year-round. The second type of farm is normally not in
full-time chalav Yisrael service, but it provides chalav Yisrael milk
on a per-need basis. When there is an order for chalav Yisrael milk,
the kahsrus agency will send mashgichim to supervise milking until
the necessary volume of milk has been produced.

Halacha (Yoreh Deah
115:1) requires that the mashgiach be at the milking from the start,
in order that he can first inspect all milking and holding equipment
and verify that it contains no residual chalav akum/non-supervised
milk. The mashgiach need not be watch every second of the milking,
once it commences; he has to be there on a yoztei v’nichnas
(in-and-out) basis (Yoreh Deah ibid. – Shach s. 4). Practically,
since dairy farms are so remote from Jewish communities and from most
everything else, once a mashgiach is at the farm, he can’t really
go anywhere else, and he is basically stationed there for the
duration of the milking.

Milk
Collection and Shipment

After each chalav
Yisrael milking session is completed, with all of the milk being
collected in holding tanks on the farm, the mashgiach will affix a
special seal (usually bearing his signature and/or the symbol of the
kosher agency) to the holding tank, so that the chalav Yisrael
integrity of the contents is assured. Then, once the chalav Yisrael
company is ready to use the milk (typically as soon as the holding
tank is full), the mashgiach will remove his seal from the tank, and
the milk will be loaded into a tanker truck that will transport the
milk to a processing plant. Before the tanker truck receives the
milk, the mashgiach will inspect it to assure that it is fully clean
and has no leftover milk from elsewhere remaining in its holds. The
mashgiach will then affix seals to the tanker truck’s holds,
exactly like the seal that was used for the farm’s holding tank.

Production

Before the tanker
truck arrives at the dairy processing plant, a mashgiach at the plant
will supervise kashering of the plant (as virtually all plants that
manufacture chalav Yisrael products are in year-round chalav
stam/non-chalav Yisrael service, and kashering is therefore needed
for chalav Yisrael production). After the plant has been kashered,
the tanker truck bearing the chalav Yisrael milk from the farm will
arrive, at which point the dairy plant mashgiach will ascend the
tanker, inspect its kosher seals, to make sure that they are intact
and are legitimate, and will allow the chalav Yisael milk to be
unloaded. The milk will be pasteurized, homogenized, and either
bottled, or used for chalav Yisrael butter, ice cream or cheese, as
the case may be.